Nfc-based options selection

ABSTRACT

A mobile electronic device corresponding to the present invention communicates with a point-of-sale terminal using near field data communications when making a purchase, prompting an offer regarding a warranty on an item purchased before the purchase is complete.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a continuation and claims the prioritybenefit of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/970,338 filed Dec. 15,2015, now U.S. Pat. No. 10,580,011, which claims the priority benefit ofU.S. provisional application 62/093,298 filed Dec. 17, 2014, thedisclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND Field of the Invention

The present invention generally relates to a user mobile device equippedwith a near field data communication (NFC) interface that performs apurchase of an item linked to a warranty. More specifically, a mobileelectronic device communicates with a point-of-sale terminal using nearfield data communications when making a purchase, prompting an offerregarding a warranty on an item purchased before the purchase iscomplete.

Description of the Related Art

Near field data communications (NFC) are currently being used byconsumers to make secure financial transactions when purchasing goods orservices. NFC is a standardized wireless data communication technologythat communicates information over short distances. NFC commonlycommunicates using a frequency of 13.56 megahertz (MHz) with data ratesapproaching 424 kilo-bits per second (Kb/sec). NFC equipped devices ofvarious sorts are available in the marketplace today.

Users of NFC-enabled user devices currently cannot purchase a warrantywhen making a purchase using NFC. A system and method where a user of auser device may purchase a warranty when they make a purchase using aNFC data communication interface on a user device is needed becauseconsumers would benefit by having their purchase covered under awarranty as soon as they make their purchase.

SUMMARY OF THE PRESENTLY CLAIMED INVENTION

Embodiments of the present invention include a system and a method forreceiving offers to acquire a warranty on an item at the point-of-salewith a mobile electronic device equipped with a near field communication(NFC) data communication interface. When purchasing an item at anNFC-equipped point-of-sale terminal, a mobile device may receive acommunication over a NFC data communication interface indicating that awarranty may be acquired for that item . After receiving thecommunication, the warranty offer may be displayed in a graphical userinterface (GUI) on a display at the mobile electronic device. A user ofthe mobile device may then accept the warranty offered by touching aselection box displayed in the GUI. After the user accepts the warrantyoffer, the mobile device may transmit payment information andinformation relating to the selected warranty over the NFC datacommunication interface to the point-of-sale terminal, and thetransaction may then be processed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A is a flowchart illustrating a prior art method for basicauthorization process based on near field communication (NFC).

FIG. 1B is a flowchart illustrating a prior art method for basic paymentprocess based on NFC.

FIG. 2 illustrates a network environment in which an exemplary systemfor providing NFC-based payment with warranty options may beimplemented.

FIG. 3 includes an exemplary GUI setup that may be used in a system forproviding NFC-based payment with warranty options, as well as aflowchart illustrating an exemplary base software method for providingNFC-based payment with warranty options.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary merchant base softwaremethod for providing NFC-based payment with warranty options.

FIG. 5A and FIG. 5B are flowcharts illustrating exemplary warrantynetwork base software methods for providing NFC-based payment withwarranty options.

FIG. 6 illustrates a matrix of information that may be stored in anexemplary warranty database used in a system for providing NFC-basedpayment with warranty options.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary method for providingNFC-based payment with warranty options.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Embodiments of the present invention include a system and a method forlinking items purchased using mobile electronic devices equipped withnear field data communication (NFC) functionality to an offer to warrantthe item purchased for a period of time.

Mobile electronic devices described herein include, yet are not limitedto, smartphones, IPhones, Android phones, IPads, notebook computers,computers built into a car, and mobile devices dedicated to performingNFC communications. Payment authorization networks, and warrantynetworks described herein include, yet are not limited to, a computerand a computer server.

The various methods may be performed by software operating inconjunction with hardware. For example, instructions executed by aprocessor, the instructions otherwise stored in a non-transitorycomputer readable medium such as memory. Various interfaces may beimplemented—both communications and interface. One skilled in the artwill appreciate the various requisite components of a mobile device andintegration of the same with one or more of the figures and/ordescriptions included herein.

FIG. 1A is a flowchart illustrating a prior art method for basicauthorization process based on near field communication (NFC). The basicauthorization process begins when a customer with an NFC-capable phonesends a purchase order 1 a to a merchant with a contactless terminal.The merchant with the contactless terminal then sends a request 2 a tothe merchant bank. Next, the merchant bank forwards credit cardinformation 3 a provided with the purchase order to a credit cardpayment processing center. The credit card payment processing centerthen forwards the credit card information 4 a to the customer bank, andthe customer bank approves or declines the purchase 5 a. Next, a messageis sent back to the merchant 6 a indicating that the purchase has beenapproved or declined.

FIG. 1A also indicates that funds are approved or declined using acombination of the merchant bank, the credit card payment processingcenter, and the customer bank. Alternate communication pathways forperforming the transactions are possible. The alternate communicationpathways include a trusted service manager (TSM) communicating with thecustomer bank and with the credit card payment processing center, aswell as a carrier with over the air (OTA) support communicating with theTSM and with the customer phone. The TSM is an entity that serves atrusted intermediary between mobile devices, networks that servicemobile devices, and software applications. The TSM securely coordinatespayments from a financial institution to a merchant that have beenauthorized by a mobile device. Examples of a carrier with OTA supportare cellular companies like Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile. The basicauthorization process may be performed using older phone lines, or itmay be performed using modern wireless cellular networks.

FIG. 1B is a flowchart illustrating a prior art method for basic paymentprocess based on NFC. The basic payment process of FIG. 1B involves themerchant sending a settlement request 1 b to the merchant bank and themerchant bank then sending a settlement request 2 b to the customerbank. Then the credit card payment processing company forwards therequest 3 b. Next, the customer bank transfers funds to the merchantbank 4 b. Communications between the merchant bank, the credit cardpayment processing center, and the customer bank are used to transferfrom the customer bank to the merchant bank. The customer phone may alsocommunicate with a carrier with OTA support, as well as with a TSM.Here, the TSM also communicates with the credit card payment system andwith the customer bank.

FIG. 2 illustrates a network environment in which an exemplary systemproviding NFC-based payment with warranty options may be implemented. Insuch a system, a warranty may be acquired when a mobile device makes apurchase using a near field communication (NFC) interface. The networkenvironment may include a mobile device communicating with a warrantynetwork over the cloud or internet. The mobile device may alsocommunicate with a point-of-sale terminal at a merchant that, in turn,communicates over the cloud or internet. The mobile device may include amemory, a battery, operating system software (OS), a warrantyapplication (App) program, and an NFC data communication interface. Thewarranty application may include base software and a graphical userinterface (GUI).

The warranty network may include a warranty network base software thatincludes a warranty database and an application program interface (API).The warranty network may communicate with manufacturers and with thirdparties when a warranty is purchased. The point-of-sale terminal at amerchant may include an NFC data communication interface and a display.Base software may also be running on the point-of-sale terminal or anassociated computer at the merchant. A transaction code communicatedbetween the mobile device and the point of sale terminal may includepayment and warranty information.

In one embodiment of the invention, a mobile device may use NFC whenmaking a purchase, after which the point-of-sale terminal maycommunicate one or more warranty options to the mobile device over theNFC data communication interface. A user of the mobile device may openthe warranty application GUI, review warranty options, and select awarranty prior to completing the purchase. When a warranty is selected,a warranty code may be appended to the payment information, and thepayment may then be processed. Additional details and other informationregarding the warranty may then be received by the mobile device eitherover the NFC data communication interface at the mobile device or overanother data communication interface at the mobile device. The mobiledevice may include a wireless data communication interface, including,yet not limited to, a Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, or a cellular 3G/4G/LTE datacommunication interface.

FIG. 3 includes an exemplary GUI setup that may be used in a system forproviding NFC-based payment with warranty options, as well as aflowchart illustrating an exemplary base software method for providingNFC-based payment with warranty options. The GUI setup may includeseveral warranty options (e.g., manufacturer, third party, no warranty),a profile selection option, and an option to create and save extendedcode selection. When the profile selection box is selected, a user mayenter or update user profile information such as an address, an emailaddress, or a telephone number. Selecting the option to create and saveextended code may result in display of a list of warranties that areavailable for purchase. The list of warranties may cover one or moreitems purchased by the user.

The base software method flowchart in FIG. 3 may begin when a use of amobile device accesses a warranty application GUI (e.g., by selecting anassociated icon in a display at their mobile device). Additionally, theuser may select one or more warranty options, select preferences, createa warranty code attachment for a purchase or future purchases, and senda warranty code to a merchant. The warranty code may include or beappended to a payment code. After the warranty code has been sent to themerchant, the warranty information may be received from a warrantynetwork, and a user of the mobile device may select a warranty topurchase.

In addition, the warranty information may be reviewed by the user via adisplay on the point-of-sale terminal or on the display of the usermobile device. The user may decide to purchase the warranty, after whichtransaction information relating to the purchase may be updated toinclude a warranty token. Then, a new warranty extended code may becreated for a next transaction. In the instance when a user decides notto purchase a warranty, the transaction is processed normally withoutincluding a warranty code.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary merchant base softwaremethod for providing NFC-based payment with warranty options. A merchantsystem may receive data via an NFC data communication from a mobiledevice. The data may be related to an item being purchased by a user. Itmay then be determined whether there is a warranty code included withthe data received. The merchant base software may determine whether thewarranty code is a valid available warranty code. If so, warrantyinformation may be received from a warranty network, and a list ofwarranty items may be displayed on a point-of-sale terminal or on theuser mobile device. The user may then select a warranty from thedisplay. After receiving a warranty selection, the merchant basesoftware may send information relating to the warranty back to thewarranty network. Next, a price for the warranty may be added to theprice of the item purchased, and the transaction may then be completedusing a general credit card payment approval process. The merchant mayreceive a commission from the warranty network. Where it may bedetermined that a warranty code is not valid, the transaction may beprocessed without a warranty.

FIG. 5A and FIG. 5B are flowcharts illustrating exemplary warrantynetwork base software methods for providing NFC-based payment withwarranty options. Such software may be running at a warranty networkserver.

FIG. 5A illustrates information being loaded into a database at thewarranty network. An API in the warranty network base software mayreceive an input, and in a second step warranty data relating to theinput is loaded into a database.

FIG. 5B includes receiving a code from the merchant base software (e.g.merchant base software described with respect to FIG. 4). The warrantynetwork base software may determine whether the code corresponds to aset of warranty options. If so, the warranty database may be searchedfor warranties that may be offered to a customer. Warranty optionsrelating to the code may be extracted and then sent to the merchant basesoftware. It may then be determined whether a warranty has beenselected. If so, information may be exchanged between the merchant basesoftware and the warranty network data base. Then, a commission may besent to the merchant (when applicable).

FIG. 6 illustrates a matrix of information that may be stored in awarranty database used in a system for providing NFC-based payment withwarranty options. The matrix includes a series of data fields for suchdata as merchant & user identification (ID), transaction number,warranty offered by, warranty cost, warranty length, and whether thewarranty is accepted/declined. The merchant & user ID identifies themerchant, and the transaction number identifies the transaction.Warranties may be offered by various parties, such as manufacturers andthird party warranty sellers. For example, transaction number 523 may beidentified as occurring at merchant 0001 where two different warrantiesmay have been offered by a manufacturer and two different warrantiesoffered by a third party. Each of the warranties offered may havedifferent costs, as well as different lengths of duration. Asillustrated, three of the offers made in transaction 523 were declined,and one of the offers was accepted by a customer.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary method for providingNFC-based payment with warranty options. A mobile device may be providedwith a warranty application, a warranty GUI, warranty base software, anNFC data communication interface, a memory, a battery, and an OS. Amerchant may be provided with a point-of-sale terminal that includes adisplay, an NFC data communication interface, and with warranty basesoftware to run on a computer at the merchant.

A warranty network may be provided with warranty network software, awarranty network database, a list of third party warranties, a group ofmanufacturer warranties, and a API. A user may select a warrantyapplication on their mobile device, select a set of warranty options,enter profile information, and select and save an extended code for thecurrent or future transactions.

The mobile device may transmit information over an NFC datacommunication interface to a point-of-sale terminal. A warrantyapplication running on the mobile device may attach a warranty code tothe information transmitted to the point-of-sale terminal. Merchant basesoftware running on the point-of-sale terminal or an associated computerat the merchant may extract the warranty code from the informationtransmitted from the mobile device and send the warranty code to awarranty network. The information transmitted from the mobile deviceover the NFC data communication may identify a credit or debit card thatthe user of the mobile device wished to use when purchasing an item.

The warranty code may be sent to the warranty network, and the warrantynetwork software may then search for manufacturer warranties and thirdparty warranties that are available for the item purchased thatcorresponds to the warranty code. When the warranty network identifiesone or more available warranties, information relating to thosewarranties may be transmitted to the manufacturer, and that informationmay be displayed on the point-of-sale terminal or on the mobile device.

A warranty may be selected by the user, and that selection may be sentto the warranty network. A payment may be received and processed using ageneral credit card purchase approval process, and the merchant may besent a commission.

In certain instances after a point-of-sale terminal receives a NFCcommunication from a mobile device, the point-of-sale terminal maydisplay one or more warranty offerings that may be selected on thepoint-of-sale terminal without sending an NFC communication listing thewarranty offerings to the mobile device. After a warranty is purchased,therefore, a confirmation that the warranty has been purchased may besent to the mobile device by the point-of-sale terminal over the NFCcommunication interface, or the mobile device may be sent a confirmationfrom the warranty network over another data communication interface atthe mobile device.

While various embodiments have been described above, it should beunderstood that they have been presented by way of example only, and notlimitation. The descriptions are not intended to limit the scope of theinvention to the particular forms set forth herein. Thus, the breadthand scope of a preferred embodiment should not be limited by any of theabove-described exemplary embodiments. It should be understood that theabove description is illustrative and not restrictive. To the contrary,the present descriptions are intended to cover such alternatives,modifications, and equivalents as may be included within the spirit andscope of the invention as defined by the appended claims and otherwiseappreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art. The scope of theinvention should, therefore, be determined not with reference to theabove description, but instead should be determined with reference tothe appended claims along with their full scope of equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for providing contactless communicationbased options, the method comprising: initiating a purchase transactionof at least one item over a contactless communication interface of amobile device, wherein the purchase transaction is initiated at apoint-of-sale (POS) terminal; retrieving a plurality of optionsassociated with the at least one item, the plurality of optionsretrieved over a communication network from a network server; receivinga code indicative of a selection of at least one of the optionsassociated with the item, the code received from the mobile device;validating the code as corresponding to the at least one optionavailable for the item; and modifying the initiated purchase transactionin accordance with the at least one option associated with the validatedcode, wherein the modified purchase transaction includes at least oneadditional item corresponding to the at least one option associated withthe validated code.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein validating thecode comprises: extracting the code from a communication sent by themobile device to the POS terminal; sending the extracted code from thePOS terminal to the network server; and receiving information regardingthe at least one option sent by the network server to the POS terminalin response to the extracted code, wherein modifying the purchasetransaction is based on the received information.
 3. The method of claim1, wherein retrieving the options includes querying the network serverfor the options associated with the at least one item.
 4. The method ofclaim 3, wherein the network server queries a third party for theoptions associated with the at least one item.
 5. The method of claim 1,further comprising providing the plurality of options associated withthe at least one item for display at the mobile device.
 6. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising displaying the plurality of optionsassociated with the at least one item on a screen of the POS terminal.7. The method of claim 1, further comprising storing the plurality ofoptions in a database.
 8. The method of claim 7, wherein the databasefurther stores at least one of identification of the mobile device,identification of the POS terminal, identification of the purchasetransaction, a price of one of the options, a provider of one of theoptions, details of one of the options, and the selection of the atleast one option.
 9. The method of claim 1, wherein the code indicativeof the selection of at least one of the options associated with the itemis generated at the mobile device.
 10. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising transmitting information associated with the at least oneitem from the POS terminal to the network server.
 11. An apparatus forproviding contactless communication based options, the apparatuscomprising: a contactless interface that initiates a purchasetransaction of at least one item with a contactless communicationinterface of a mobile device; a communication interface thatcommunicates over a communication network, wherein the communicationinterface retrieves a plurality of options associated with the at leastone item over a communication network from a network server, andreceives a code indicative of a selection of at least one of the optionsassociated with the item, the code received from the mobile device; anda processor that executes instructions stored in memory, wherein theexecution of the instructions by the processor: validates the code ascorresponding to the at least one option available for the item; andmodifies the initiated purchase transaction in accordance with the atleast one option associated with the validated code, wherein themodified purchase transaction includes at least one additional itemcorresponding to the at least one option associated with the validatedcode.
 12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the processor executesfurther instructions to validate the code by: extracting the code from acommunication sent by the mobile device to the POS terminal; sending theextracted code from the POS terminal to the network server; andreceiving information regarding the at least one option sent by thenetwork server to the POS terminal in response to the extracted code,wherein modifying the purchase transaction is based on the receivedinformation.
 13. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the communicationinterface queries the network server for the options associated with theat least one item.
 14. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the networkserver queries a third party for the options associated with the atleast one item.
 15. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the mobile devicedisplays the plurality of options associated with the at least one itemfor display.
 16. The apparatus of claim 11, further comprising a POSterminal screen that displays the plurality of options associated withthe at least one item.
 17. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprisinga database in memory that stores the plurality of options.
 18. Theapparatus of claim 17, wherein the database further stores at least oneof identification of the mobile device, identification of the POSterminal, identification of the purchase transaction, a price of one ofthe options, a provider of one of the options, details of one of theoptions, and the selection of the at least one option.
 19. The apparatusof claim 11, wherein the mobile device generates the code indicative ofthe selection of at least one of the options associated with the item.20. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the communication interfacetransmits information associated with the at least one item to thenetwork server.
 21. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium,having embodied thereon a program executable by a processor to perform amethod for providing contactless communication based options, the methodcomprising: initiating a purchase transaction of at least one item overa contactless communication interface of a mobile device, wherein thepurchase transaction is initiated at a point-of-sale (POS) terminal;retrieving a plurality of options associated with the at least one item,the plurality of options retrieved over a communication network from anetwork server; receiving a code indicative of a selection of at leastone of the options associated with the item, the code received from themobile device; validating the code as corresponding to the at least oneoption available for the item; and modifying the initiated purchasetransaction in accordance with the at least one option associated withthe validated code, wherein the modified purchase transaction includesat least one additional item corresponding to the at least one optionassociated with the validated code.